むち打ち刑に初の女性執行部隊、インドネシア・アチェ州

【バンダアチェＡＦＰ＝時事】覆面姿の女性執行官が緊張した様子で近づき、所定の位置に着くと、女性受刑者の背中に連続してむちを下ろした。公開むち打ち刑が行われているインドネシア・スマトラ島のアチェ州で結成された初の女性執行部隊だ。（写真はインドネシア・アチェ州の州都バンダアチェで、公開むち打ちの刑の準備をする初の女性執行官）
　むちで打たれた未婚の女性は、ホテルの一室に男性といるところを捕らえられた。イスラム教徒人口が世界最多のインドネシアの中でも唯一、イスラム法（シャリア）が施行されているアチェ州では、婚前交渉は道徳に反する犯罪とされている。
　州都バンダアチェ宗教警察の捜査主任は、今回担当した女性執行官について、「よくやったと思う。彼女の腕は良い」とＡＦＰに語った。
　むち打ち刑をめぐっては人権活動家らが反対し、メディアや政治家たちの間で激しい論争が展開されている。
　ジョコ・ウィドド大統領も公開むち打ち刑の廃止を求めているが、アチェ州で起きていることについての発言力はほとんどない。
　アチェ州では婚前交渉の他、賭博や不倫、飲酒、同性愛者間の性行為などが犯罪とみなされ、刑罰として一般的に公開むち打ち刑が適用されるが、刑の執行はこれまで男性が行ってきた。
　専門家によるとインターネットへのアクセス増加とグローバル化によって、地元の文化的・宗教的規範との衝突が拡大しており、婚前交渉や公共の場での愛情表現で犯罪に問われる女性が増えているという。
　これに伴ってむち打ち刑の執行数も増加しており、アチェ州は現在、イスラム法に従って、女性犯罪者に対するむち打ち刑を担当する女性執行官を求めている。
　しかし、女性たちに執行官になろうと思わせるのは簡単ではなく、初の女性執行部隊を結成するまでには何年もかかったという。
■「むち打ち執行官」への道
　執行官になることに同意した宗教警察官の女性８人は、むち打ちの適切な技術や、受刑者のけがの程度を抑える方法を学んだ。
　ＡＦＰは女性執行官への取材を求めたが、安全上の理由からアチェ州当局に断られた。執行官たちは身元を隠すため、布製の覆面と大きめの茶色い制服を着用している。
　宗教警察の捜査主任は、「われわれは執行官が体力を維持できるようトレーニングを行い、適切なむち打ちの方法を教えている」と述べた。さらにむち打ちの「こつ」は同胞をたたくという精神的ハードルを乗り越えることであり、神と向かい合うことが必要だと説明した。
　また「われわれが行っていることは、執行官が自分の役割についてよりよく理解するための一種の教化だ。神の法を犯す者への慈悲は必要ない」と述べた。
　アチェ州当局は公共の場や建物でのパトロールや、告発を受けての監視活動に平行して、むち打ち刑が犯罪を抑止していると主張する。
　むち打ちの痛みは強烈で、失神したり病院に搬送されたりする受刑者もいる。同性愛者の性行為や未成年者との婚前交際などの最も重い罪に対しては、１５０回ものむち打ち刑が言い渡されることもある。
　ある住民は、「アチェでのイスラム法（の適用）はまだ甘い」「むち打ちだけでなく、石打ちのようなより厳しい罰が必要だ。不倫した者は石打ち１００回の刑に処されるべきだ」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/01/30-09:05）

The masked woman nervously approaches her target, shuffles into position and then unleashes a flurry of lashes -- proving herself as the newest member of the first female flogging squad in Indonesia's Aceh province.
The new recruit initially needed some coaxing to punish the offender -- an unmarried woman caught in a hotel room with a man.
Such behaviour constitutes a morality crime in Aceh, the only region in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation that imposes Islamic law -- known as Sharia. Those found guilty of breaches are often publicly whipped with a rattan cane.
But despite her reticence, she persevered and delivered her first flogging.
I think she did a good job. Her technique was nice, Banda Aceh Sharia police chief investigator Zakwan, who uses one name, told AFP.
The controversial punishment enrages rights activists and generates heated media debate, as well as amongst politicians.
Indonesia's president has issued a call for the public floggings to stop but he has little say over what happens in Aceh, a deeply conservative region on Sumatra island.
Unlike the rest of the nation, Aceh follows religious law as part of a 2005 autonomy deal agreed with the central government that ended a decades-long separatist insurgency.
Here, public whipping remains a common punishment for scores of offenders for a range of charges including gambling, adultery, drinking alcohol, and having gay or pre-marital sex.
But the job has always been done by men. Until now.
- 'No mercy' -
More and more women are being charged for morality crimes such as public affection or premarital sex, experts say, as greater internet access and globalisation bring clashes with local cultural and religious norms.
Enforcement too has increased and now Aceh says it's trying to follow Islamic law, which calls for women to whip female perpetrators. This is already what happens in neighbouring Malaysia.
But convincing women to participate has been no easy task, and it's taken years to assemble the first female squad, according to Safriadi, who heads provincial capital Banda Aceh's Sharia Implementation Unit.
Eight women -- all Sharia officers -- agreed to be floggers and were trained in the appropriate technique and advised how to limit injury.
Previously, a dozen men performed all the whippings in the city for an unspecified fee.
For security reasons, Aceh officials declined to let AFP speak with the floggers, who are outfitted in cloth masks and loose fitting brown uniforms to hide their identities.
We train them to make sure they're physically fit and teach them how to do a proper whipping, Zakwan said.
But the secret for any whipping is getting past the mental hurdle of lashing fellow citizens.
For that, you need to look to God, Zakwan said.
It's kind of an indoctrination that we give to them so they have a better understanding of their role -- have no mercy for those who violate God's law', he added.
- 'Too lenient' -
Aceh officials insist caning deters crime, with patrols often scouring public places and establishments -- or acting on tip-offs -- to monitor behaviour.
Sharia police in Banda Aceh, a city of some 220,000 people, are on the streets round-the-clock in three shifts.
On a recent patrol, a couple sitting close to each other on the beach escaped with a reprimand.
But a group of men and women spotted at a coffee shop around 3:00 am weren't so lucky and were arrested on suspicion of breaking strict codes about unmarried men and women interacting.
This shows that we never sleep looking for violations of Sharia (Islamic law), Safriadi said.
From behind bars, one of the men said that there was nothing romantic happening at the coffee shop.
We don't even know the women and were sitting at different tables, he told AFP.
The women were later released with a reprimand as were the men, but police said the trio may be charged for a new offence, after it was determined they were gay.
Same-sex relations can earn residents a whipping in front of jeering crowds, which can number in the hundreds.
Sharia in Aceh is still lenient, said resident Saiful Tengkuh.
Aceh needs harsher punishments like stoning, not just whipping. Someone committing adultery should be stoned 100 times, he added.
- 'Don't do it again' -
Aceh, home to about 5 million people, once mulled beheading for serious crimes, but the central government ruled it out.
This summer, it made headlines over a fatwa, or religious edict, against online game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) and opposing a national women's football league because it didn't have a stadium where only female players, match officials and spectators would be present.
But whipping is often what gets Aceh in the news -- unwanted attention local officials say is Islamophobic.
Advocates say many people caught breaking religious law choose whipping as an efficient, if painful, way to avoid a stiff jail term.
But this rough justice can take a toll.
Floggings can be so severe that people pass out or are hospitalised, with the most serious crimes -- including gay sex and having a relations with a minor -- earning as many as 150 lashes.
Many offenders have fled the area out of shame or because customers deserted their businesses. Few are keen to discuss their experience.
For women, arrest for even a minor violation can lead to victimisation, including sexual harassment and rape during arrest, according to research by the Network for Civil Society Concerned with Sharia.
Reporting these assaults without proof can even open up victims to flogging for making a false accusation, it added.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have condemned such punishments as barbaric, inhumane, and tantamount to torture.
But Aceh officials insist they're far more lenient than ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia and some other Muslim nations.
We're not aiming to hurt people by whipping them, Safriadi said.
The most important thing is the shaming effect on violators and spectators so they don't do it again.